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Childbirth

Anyone been induced simply by breaking waters?

14 replies

ArtigeneAuberchoke · 11/12/2012 22:06

I'm pregnant with DC3. I'm far from delivering but today my consultant said he'd like to induce me at around 38 weeks providing my cervix is favourable. He said he'd hopefully avoid drugs and just break my waters (I think he is basing this on the fact I was 3cm from 38 weeks to 41 weeks with DC2).

I didn't know you could induce without drugs. Has anyone had experience of this? How did it go? With DC1 I was induced with pessaries and syntocin and that was a nightmare I'd like to avoid repeating).

OP posts:
Diamond7 · 11/12/2012 22:15

Why do they want to induce you?

Breaking the waters can sometimes get things going, like a sweep can but not always and once your waters are gone they want things to be progressing within 24hours due to infection risk.

ArtigeneAuberchoke · 11/12/2012 22:28

Induction is being considered because in both previous pregnancies my kidneys have begun to struggle in the last month. In my first pregnancy I developed pre-eclampsia, in my second it was just leaky kidneys. In addition both babies were around 10lbs and hard to deliver.

OP posts:
5madthings · 11/12/2012 22:32

Yes i have been induced this way with four of my five. But i was more than two weeks overdue each time and about 3-4cm dilated.

It can work but if it doesnt you will be on to the syntocinon drip and a very medical labour.

tadjennyp · 11/12/2012 22:35

I was induced like this last year as had been 4cm dilated for weeks. I was lucky and it took only 7 hours from me having the waters broken to giving birth. I was 39+3 at the time. Good luck!

steppemum · 11/12/2012 22:56

I was late with all of the little sods dd2 and was given pessary that didn't work. No labour at all. At 8:30 pm midwife said we will try again tomorrow morning. Then she said, hmm, this is dc 3??
Did an internal, said I was 3 cm dilated, and offered to break my waters. I said fine, just phone my dh (who had gone home) she phoned, then broke my waters, dh took 35 minutes to arrive and was only just in time to see dd2 born Shock

HeffalumpsAndWoozles · 11/12/2012 22:57

I was induced this way with DD2 this year, like you I had a full bells & whistles induction with DD1 and was desperate to avoid a repeat. I went in for induction with DD2 on the Saturday morning at 41+5, following a sweep each morning for the preceding three days. On examination I was 3cm so they allowed me to go upstairs to the MLU and try ARM.

Midwife broke my waters at 18.30 and said provided things started happening within 4 hours I would be ok to stay in the MLU and use the pool as I was hoping for. So DH & I started a walk round the hospital grounds to try and get things going, I didn't even get half way round before the contractions were so strong we had to borrow a wheelchair and leg it full speed back to the birth centre!

DD was born at 21.03 in the pool, it was fantastic Xmas Grin

Really hope you are able to get a similar positive experience OP Xmas Smile

steppemum · 11/12/2012 22:59

and she weighed 10lbs 7oz (start to finish in less than an hour and 10 lb baby - never ever again....)

(was prancing round Natural History Museum with dcs 1 and 2 when dc3 was 3 weeks old though, so can't have been too bad!)

Beckie222 · 11/12/2012 23:05

I had my waters broke with dd2 to start an induction and she was born exactly 6 minutes later. Very very fast and frightening.

cuteable · 11/12/2012 23:16

I was induced this way with both dc's:

dc1 was born at 38weeks due to pre eclampsia.I was 2cm and they just broke my waters, id had no contractions until that point. i was put on drip a few hours later to help regulate contractions. 12.5hour labour.

dc2 - 10days over. mw broke my waters then dd was born 1.5hours later Smile

Sugarkane · 11/12/2012 23:21

I went in for an induction, cervix was favourable it was just that DS2 hadnt come down enough to put pressure on my cervix and waters, they broke my waters contractions started right away, he was born about 4 and a half hours later.

5madthings · 11/12/2012 23:23

steppe sounds like my labour with ds4 i had waters broken and contractions started straight away, was on the pool within twenty mins and ds4 was born within 40mins of me getting in the pool. 10lb 13oz and his head circumference was off the top of the chart. Sooo glad i was in the pool!

YorkshireRose12 · 12/12/2012 14:47

I too was induced like this at 39+5. I was 3cm dilated after a couple of days of pre-labour. Was offered ARM to see if that would get things going, told I'd be given a couple of hours and if things hadn't then progressed I'd have to go on the drip to be induced. Fast forward those couple of hours and I said I needed to push. MW didn't believe me - this was my first DC - but I insisted I wanted to be examined and was fully dilated. Little bugger still took an hour and a half to push out though Xmas Grin

Moominsarescary · 12/12/2012 14:55

My waters broke early twice with no help. Both times I went into labour but it took quite a few days so I can imagine if your closer to term it could start things off.

redwellybluewelly · 13/12/2012 22:38

DD was born exactly four hours after my waters were broken. I say waters they were like thick green soup.

It was a hard and fast labour and it left DD brain injured though oxygen starvation. I'm not a fan of induction.

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